One person who Steve frequently called out was Jonathan Vaughters, the former pro who now manages the Cannondale-Drapac professional team. Even though the two did not always see eye to eye, Vaughters said he had deep respect for Tilford. "I respected Steve even though he pounded on me because, end of the day, he was after the same end goal, regards doping, that I was," Vaughters said. "And he was uncompromising with his words pursuing that. So, while I was hurt by his words, I knew what he was saying was coming from a good place. And I respected that. Always."

When asked to assess how Tilford was able to race competitively for so long, Vaughters said "the dude was the quintessential road warrior his entire life" and then relayed a funny story. "As part of our ongoing debates, I invited Steve out to get tested by our sports science crew," Vaughters recalled. "So, I can tell you as a matter of fact: the reason he ripped people's legs off is that he had a very big motor. He was very physically talented. Very big. The sports science dudes were a bit shocked a guy that age still had so much under the hood."

Then Vaughters and I got to talking about the horrific scene out on I-70 early Wednesday morning. Out of the blue, Vaughters said "I keep wondering why he was still out on the highway. Bet you anything he was looking for his dog in the wreck."

I had no idea so I made some calls. Multiple people told me that had heard that Tilford had moved away from the wreckage, but, deeply concerned that his beloved dog, Tucker, was loose, had walked back toward his truck to find a leash. (Steve would be relieved to know that Tucker is fine.)